David Freese, Kyle Lohse Put Damper On Miami Marlins Home Opener
Kyle Lohse and the St. Louis Cardinals earned their first wins of the season Wednesday night as the defending World Series champions ruin the Miami Marlins home opener to show the nation their brand new, state of the art ballpark. The Cardinals defeated the Marlins 4-1.
The Cardinals got the wheels churning in the first inning off of Marlins ace Josh Johnson who was making his first start since May of last year. Carlos Beltran his second and singled while Lance Berkman followed him with a double. World Series MVP David Freese was up next and he cranked a double to plate Beltran and Berkman and automatically put the Cardinals ahead.
The next inning, shortstop Rafael Furcal singled to score David Descalso who walked after Jon Jay lined out to Johnson to start the inning.
Johnson would allow 10 hits, three runs on 10 hits and only strike out three batters.
The Cardinals would score one more time when Descalso singled to score Freese.
Freese finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and a double. Teammate Lance Berkman was 1-for-3 with a double, a run scored and two intentional walks.
Lohse was having an incredible impact on the Marlins. Lohse did not allow a single hit until the top of the seventh inning when Jose Reyes became the first Marlin to record a hit in the new ballpark. However, Lohse would quickly get resettled even after a long Giancarlo Stanton fly ball that looked like it was going to be a home run but died as soon as Jay caught it.
Lohse pitched in seven and one-third innings, allowing two hits, one run and three strikeouts.
John Buck would contribute the only RBI in the game when he plated Omar Infante who reached on a fielder’s choice.
The Cardinals used Jason Motte to close out the game and Motte recorded his first save of the season.
The Cardinals took the only game of the series and will head to Milwaukee to play a weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers while the Marlins will head to Cincinnati Thursday to play the Cincinnati Reds.
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